The technique of focal therapy (Balint, Malan) is explained and exemplified with a case of examination anxiety. According to a simile of Balint's, the aim is to alter (therapeutically) the position of a tree trunk which obstructs the driftwood on a river (the acute conflict). At first, the 'focus' is an anticipatory interpretative formulation by the analyst derived from interview material and test data. But only the interaction of transference and counter-transference imparts concreteness to it. The scenic elements which enter the focus interpretation appear in variations produced by the patient's defences; they resemble manifest dream thoughts the working through of which will restore the latent thoughts to experiential realization.